Llana froze, her spoon stopping before it reached her mouth.
She slowly turned around and saw a tall, handsome young man walking toward the kitchen island with an easy smile on his face. Dressed casually in a black T-shirt and jeans, his eyes were fixed on the food in front of her.
"E… Eh?!"
"Taehyung?!"
_____
'What was he doing here?'
For a moment, Llana simply stared at him.
They weren't even that close.
Sure, they knew each other and had talked a few times after that day, but they definitely weren't close enough for him to casually show up at her house this early in the morning.
And she had barely gotten home an hour ago.
Maybe the lack of sleep was finally getting to her.
Llana narrowed her eyes.
Wait.
No way.
Was she actually dreaming about V?
Her expression immediately became strange.
Out of all people, why would she dream about him?
Without thinking too much about it, she pinched her thigh.
"Ouch!"
Llana quickly rubbed the spot and frowned.
Okay.
Not a dream.
Taehyung was really in her house.
Llana opened her mouth, ready to ask what exactly he was doing in her house, but Maria beat her to it.
"V, you're here, son! Have you eaten? Come here. Perfect timing, I just finished cooking. Come and eat."
Maria's entire face lit up as she waved him over.
Llana slowly turned toward her Lola Nanay.
Then toward Taehyung.
Then back to Maria again.
"Son?"
Her eyebrow rose.
Since when did that happen?
Maria had only returned two weeks ago.
How did these two even meet?
More importantly, how did they get close enough in two weeks for Maria to start calling him son?
"Good morning, Nanay Maria. I haven't eaten yet. It smells really good. It looks delicious."
Taehyung rubbed his hands together eagerly as he approached the kitchen island, grinning from ear to ear.
Then, without even asking, he pulled out a chair one seat away from Llana and sat down.
Llana watched him.
He looked completely at home.
No awkward glances around the kitchen no stuttering or forced polite smile.
He didn't even greet her.
Llana narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Aren't you getting a little too comfortable here? You've only been here once."
She laughed under her breath before taking another bite of her food.
Seriously.
If she didn't know any better, she'd think this was his house and she was the one visiting.
Taehyung finally turned toward her.
He gave her a smile so obviously fake that Llana almost laughed.
"Good morning to you too, my beautiful friend, Llana."
Llana rolled her eyes.
"If you had just answered my calls, you would have known that I've already been here five times," Taehyung grumbled.
Llana stopped chewing.
"...Oh."
Five times?
She glanced at him again.
Well...
That explained a lot.
But it only gave her another question.
Why had he been visiting in the first place?
"I'm sorry. I've been busy. I really didn't have time to answer my phone."
She actually felt a little guilty saying it.
It wasn't like she had been purposely ignoring him because she disliked him or thought too highly of herself.
She had seen some of his messages.
She just... hadn't known how to respond.
Talking to him in person was one thing.
Private messages were another.
Calls were even worse.
Llana had never really had private conversations with a guy before, much less casually talked to one over the phone.
It felt awkward.
She would see his message, think about what she should say, put her phone down for a moment...
Then completely forget about it.
Her schedule certainly didn't help.
These days, she barely had enough energy left to look at her phone once she was done with everything. Between training, company schedules, practice, and everything else, replying to messages had ended up in the bottom of her priorities.
Sometimes she would open her phone only to find missed calls from her TWICE unnies, her parents, or one of her brothers.
Then she'd tell herself she'd call them back later.
Later usually became the next day.
Or the day after that.
Her short hair slipped forward and fell across her face.
Llana frowned and pushed it back with her fingers.
She still wasn't completely used to it.
It was convenient during training, sure, but sometimes she missed being able to simply tie her hair up and forget about it.
One seat away from her, Taehyung suddenly became quiet.
Llana didn't notice.
She was too busy wondering just how many messages she still hadn't replied to.
Taehyung, meanwhile, found himself staring at her.
He had seen plenty of beautiful women before, actresses, models, idols, and more. But somehow, none of them had ever stood out to him the way the blue-eyed girl sitting one seat away did.
To him, Llana was simply...
Beautiful.
Almost unfairly so.
Usually, whenever he saw her, she always seemed composed.
Elegant.
There was something about the way she carried herself that made her seem almost untouchable at times.
But right now, she looked completely different.
Her eyes were heavy from exhaustion, her short hair was slightly messy, and she was sitting there in front of him with none of that usual polished air around her.
She looked... comfortable.
At home.
Taehyung didn't know why, but he liked seeing her this way.
Maybe because she seemed easier to approach.
Less distant.
More like an ordinary girl instead of someone everyone immediately turned their heads to look at.
His eyes stayed on her a little longer than they should have.
Then he noticed movement from the corner of his eye. Maria was standing beside the stove, looking directly at him.
Taehyung froze.
Maria didn't say anything. She only raised one eyebrow, then the corner of her mouth slowly curled upward with a knowing smile.
Taehyung immediately understood that look.
She had caught him staring.
His ears slowly turned red.
"Ahem!"
Taehyung awkwardly cleared his throat and quickly looked away.
For some reason, he suddenly found the table much more interesting.
Maria's smile only deepened, but thankfully, she didn't say anything.
Maria had placed a plate of food in front of him.
"Here. Eat now, child."
He cleared his throat again.
"Thank you, Nanay!"
His usual boxy smile immediately returned.
He looked down at the food.
"Wow, it looks delicious."
He scooped up a generous mouthful and took a bite.
His eyes immediately lit up.
He nodded several times while humming in approval, making Maria smile proudly.
Taehyung kept his attention on his food, still feeling slightly embarrassed from being caught earlier.
Maria, meanwhile, occasionally glanced at him with the same amused expression, which only made him eat faster.
Llana quietly watched the two of them while sipping her milk.
Her eyes moved to Taehyung as she lowered her glass.
"When did you guys get back? Why didn't I hear anything about it? And more importantly why are you here?"
He looked at her, still chewing, Llana waited patiently until he swallowed his food.
"Last week."
"Last week? And you came here for 5 days now did you came here everyday? Are you here looking for my brother?"
"Yes and no."
V reached for the pitcher and poured some water into the empty glass Maria had given him earlier. He took a sip before answering again.
"I came here for you."
___
A lil late sorry guys 😁
How are you all? 😊